Tag: office segment

Goldman Sachs Puts Agbar’s Home in Barcelona Up For Sale

12 November 2018 – Eje Prime

Goldman Sachs wants to take advantage of the high level of demand in the office market in Barcelona. The US bank has put the headquarters of Sociedad General de Aguas de Barcelona (the General Water Company of Barcelona or Agbar) up for sale. The property is known as Distrito 38 and is worth around €100 million.

The asset, located on Paseo de la Zona Franca, is going up for sale in the office market just three years after Goldman Sachs acquired it. The bank purchased the building in 2015 from Bankia, as part of a larger portfolio, for which it paid €355 million, according to Cinco Días.

In light of the great demand in the office segment, which recorded total investment to September of €1.117 billion, according to data from Cushman & Wakefield, the financial company plans to close the operation before the end of the year.

Original story: Eje Prime 

Translation: Carmel Drake

CBRE: New Builds Will Account for 60% of the Office Supply in Madrid Until 2019

15 May 2018 – Eje Prime

Change of tack in the office sector in Madrid. In 2016, 100% of the supply that was put on the market corresponded to renovated properties; just three years on, 60% of the office space handed over during the last 24 months has been newly built. The segment is, therefore, going to experience a metamorphosis over the next two years (…). Moreover, with the volume of leased surface area rising year after year, a significant increase is expected over the medium term in the number of square metres in total in the office stock in the Spanish capital, according to a report from the consultancy firm CBRE.

Thus, whilst in 2016, the new surface area created saw the introduction of 170,000 m2 into the stock that year, last year, 238,000 m2 of new space was created. In 2018 and 2019, office developers will dispense 255,000 m2, of which 153,000 m2 is going to correspond to new build properties.

These figures reflect the definitive return of the Socimis and funds to the construction of new office space in the office market, according to CBRE. In the case of Madrid, after 606,000 m2 of office space was leased during 2017 – the best year in the last decade – the report forecasts similar figures for this year.

In addition, traditional players, such as the Socimi Colonial and GMP, in which the Singapore sovereign fund has held a stake for several years, have been joined by other managers and companies that want to take advantage of the strong performance of the office market in the new real estate cycle, resuming projects that were parked due to the crisis. Such is the case of Iberdrola Inmobiliaria, the French firm Bouygues and Torre Rioja, amongst other companies.

In this sense, Colonial, which has now also reinforced this line of business with Axiare’s assets, has a project underway, Alpha III, in which it is going to invest €480 million between Madrid and Barcelona, highlighting the investment that it is going to make in the Méndez Álvaro area of the Spanish capital. In that southern stretch of the central business district (CBD), the Socimi is going to build more than 110,000 m2 of office space (…).

Barcelona: record year for the hand over of new offices

Whilst Madrid is getting ready to build offices, in Barcelona, developers are on the verge of handing over the newest spaces. The Catalan capital has been immersed in a construction phase that, in addition, has been sold at the speed of light. The majority of the new developments that are being carried out already have tenants, who have signed pre-lease contracts with the developers of the different projects.

Nevertheless, the greatest supply is being built in the 22@ district, the most-sought-after area at the moment by technology companies and large operators. As a result, in 2017, the Catalan capital recorded a 4% increase in the volume of space leased, to 344,000 m2, according to CBRE.

Boosted by this dynamic of constructing buildings in the city’s new hub, Barcelona will handover 170,000 m2 of new office space during 2018, which will represent the best surface area record since 2010 (…).

In recent months, several land transactions have been closed in the 22@ district for the development of new (office) projects. Perhaps the most noteworthy of all is Parc Central, a plot spanning 52,000 m2 for which Värde paid €50 million to Oaktree and Alza Real Estate. The fund will allocate just over 40,000 m2 of those plots, known as Can Ricard, to office buildings.

Madrid, the city in Europe where prime office rents will rise by the fastest

(…). Prime rents grew by 10% in Madrid in 2017 and by 8% in Barcelona, with average prices per square metre of €31/m2/month in the Spanish capital and €23.5/m2/month in the Mediterranean city.

In 2018, CBRE forecasts that Madrid is going to be the European city where prime rents are going to rise the most markedly with a growth forecast that could reach €34/m2/month on average, boosted by the CBD. Meanwhile, Barcelona is going to close this year as the fourth-ranked capital in Europe in terms of the increase in office rents, a rising trend that is going to continue in both cities until 2022.

Original story: Eje Prime (by J. Izquierdo)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Starwood & Carlyle Bid for San Fernando Business Park (Madrid)

11 May 2018 – Expansión

One of the major real estate operations of the year in the office segment is entering the home stretch.

The US fund Oaktree, which engaged the real estate consultancy CBRE to coordinate the sale of San Fernando Business Park, has been receiving binding offers for this office complex, located in San Fernando de Henares, in the east of the Community of Madrid.

The international investors that have expressed their interest in the asset include the investment fund Starwood Capital and the private equity firm Carlyle, both of which have submitted binding offers and so entered the final round of bidding for the business park.

Oaktree acquired the San Fernando Business Park three years ago, when the US fund purchased a portfolio of unpaid debt worth €750 million from the German bad bank FMS Wertmanagement (FMS WM), which included, in addition to the office complex: luxury hotels, such as the Arts Hotel in Barcelona and another establishment in Cascais (Portugal); five shopping centres, including two in Madrid (Plaza Éboli and Heron City Las Rozas); several storeroom buildings; and other residential and industrial assets.

San Fernando Business Park comprises 13 buildings and spans a total surface area of 86,000 m2, as well as 2,500 parking spaces.

Moreover, the business complex boasts 40,000 m2 of green space and recreational areas. San Fernando Business park is accessible directly from the A2, M45 and M50 motorways and its onsite facilities include a gym, banks, a children’s nursery, meeting rooms and an auditorium.

Office market

As we wait to see how the sale of Hispania’s office portfolio pans out, which is worth almost €600 million but which is up in the air due to the takeover bid (OPA) that the US fund Blackstone launched for the Socimi, the purchase of San Fernando Business Park looks set to be one of the most important operations of the year in the office segment.

Investment

Last year, investment in the office segment amounted to €2.3 billion, less than half the previous year, due to less activity by the Socimis, a shortage of supply in good locations and the challenge for investors to find the desired returns.

So far this year, investment in the office segment has accounted for 42% of the total transacted volume, reaching €1.72 billion, given that the figure includes Colonial’s takeover of Axiare, which was successfully closed in February and which has caused the investment figure to soar.

More than 600,000 m2 of office space was leased in Madrid last year, which represents the best figure in the last decade, whilst in Barcelona, 345,000 m2 of office space was leased during the same period.

Original story: Expansión (by Rebeca Arroyo)

Translation: Carmel Drake

GMP Invests €24M to Construct New Office Building in Madrid

19 February 2018 – Eje Prime

GMP is marking a turning point in the office sector. The group, owned by the Montoro family and the sovereign fund of Singapore, has invested €24 million in the construction of what-is-going-to-be one of the most prime offices in Madrid. One of the many features of this property, which is going to have a surface area of 14,300 m2, is the sports area that it will have on its roof, which will include two padel courts, an athletics space and an area for doing outdoor exercises.

This innovation in services reinforces the new energy with which office buildings are being planned – the segment is currently booming in the Spanish real estate sector. The land was already owned by GMP, which has started to market the property, which will open in June this year. The rental price for the asset, located in Madrid’s financial district, will amount to around €18/m2/month.

The building, called Oxxeo, will have sustainability certifications and is expected to generate great interest amongst large companies, which are the typical tenants of offices in the area. Designed by the architect Rafael de la Hoz, the property has five stories, with 2,945 m2 per floor, and a 2-storey underground parking lot with capacity for 450 vehicles, according to El Economista.

In addition, the GMP building is committed to renewable energy with the placement of photovoltaic panels to generate electricity; and it will be the first office building in Spain to have its own dynamic lighting system adapted to the circadian cycle (biological clock), which will allow the colour of the light to change independently during the course of the day.

Original story: Eje Prime 

Translation: Carmel Drake

CBRE: Investment in Residential set to Overtake Offices in 2018

16 February 2018 – Eje Prime

The Spanish real estate sector is going to continue on its path to recovery in 2018. The real estate market is expected to continue to spark great investor appetite although some of the cards may change their order in the deck. For example, the residential sector is set to climb to the top of the ranking in terms of investment demand for the first time since the change in the cycle, whereby surpassing the office segment. Together, the two segments look set to ensure that the sector maintains an investment volume of around €13 billion for the year as a whole, just like it did in 2017.

The keys for the continuation of the positive trend in the sector are the “strong economic forecasts for Spain, favourable financing conditions, the cycle of maturity in the market, the products for sale in the pipeline and the corporate operations underway”, according to the consultancy firm CBRE in its Real Estate Outlook for 2018 report.

The housing market will reign in the real estate sector this year, attracting one-third of all investment in the sector as a whole, according to the consultancy firm and experts consulted by CBRE. Nevertheless, the office segment, which will be demoted to second place in the investment ranking, will not be far behind the residential segment in absolute terms, accounting for 27% of total investment. The remaining third of the investment volume is expected to be split between retail (18%) and logistics (12%), as well as less significant amounts in hotels and other types of assets.

The recovery of the residential sector, therefore, will be strengthened over the coming months, according to the consultancy firm. House prices will continue to rise across Spain in 2018, with rises of around 5% and 6% p.a., and the highest increases in the two most dynamic markets, Madrid and Barcelona. CBRE forecasts that demand for housing will amount to between 550,000 and 570,000 units, primarily second-hand homes.

Nevertheless, following residential development growth in 2017, “we can establish that the trend in the sector will be positive for at least the next three years and that the construction output levels will be absorbed by demand (…), says Samuel Población, National Director of Residential and Land at CBRE Spain.

The executive explained that the sector is immersed in a process of concentration amongst the property developers, where “the ten largest property developers in the country will account for more than 15% of domestic output”. Of those, the director highlighted the listed companies Neinor Homes, Aedas Homes and Metrovacesa, as well as Aelca, Vía Célere, Pryconsa, Amenabar and Kronos, amongst others.

In 2018, the promotion of homes will continue to boom, supported by the high existing demand, with 100,000 permits forecast for the year as a whole. Moreover, Población estimates that, between now and 2020, new homes will reach a rate of demand of between 130,000 and 140,000 units. In terms of the large cities, Madrid stands out “with an average need for 25,000 new homes per year” (…).

Development of new offices and logistics spaces 

Offices and logistics are two segments that grew at record rates in 2017. Above all, in Madrid, where both segments experienced a year of great growth, and that boom is not expected to decrease this year. According to the report, the office market will continue to progress with its recovery (…).

For the Catalan capital, more surface area will be handed over this year than in any year since 2010, most of it in the form of new build properties. Even so, Barcelona will remain well behind Madrid in terms of leasing volumes, given that CBRE estimates that leasing volumes in the Spanish capital will amount to 600,000 m2, compared with 350,000 m2 in the Mediterranean city (…).

In the case of the logistics sector, the segment is currently one of the most attractive markets for investors. After registering record figures in 2017, with more than 1.5 million m2 of space leased, this year, more land will be added to the stock. CBRE estimates that for the sector in Madrid, its main stronghold, 850,000 m2 of space will be leased. That would result in an increase in investment in the logistics sector, which could amount to €1 billion in 2018 (…).

Original story: Eje Prime (by Jabier Izquierdo)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Thor Equities Sells c/Fuencarral 16 to Union Investment

31 January 2018 – Eje Prime

The fund Thor Equities is closing its positions in Spain. The group has sold number 16 Calle Fuencarral to the institutional fund Union Investment. Just before the operation, Thor Equities signed a rental contract to lease the store to the Swedish giant H&M, the second largest fashion retailer in the world, which will open a branch of its Cos chain there.

The establishment has a surface area of 1,320 m2, according to explanations provided in a statement issued by Union Investment and Thor Equities. The five-storey property was constructed in 1900 and was completely renovated in 2017. The fund changed the use of the property in order to convert it into a mega-store, whereby following the trend in the market in the centre of Madrid, as well as the example set by other real estate investors.

The operation, whose amount has not been disclosed, represents the first purchase by Union Investment in the market for high-street stores in Spain, although assets in the retail sector already account for 30% of the portfolio that the fund manages in Europe.

Nevertheless, the group already owned assets in the Spanish market. What’s more, the fund has already started to cash in some of its properties in the country with the sale of the former headquarters of Marsans. The Pórtico Building, located in Campo de las Naciones in Madrid, is up for sale for €130 million, a higher amount than the €115 million that the German investment group paid in 2009 to the now extinct travel company.

Headquartered in Frankfurt, the German company currently has several high profile tenants leasing that property, including: Pepsico, Pullmantur, Nautalia and Beam España, amongst others. With a gross leasable area of 27,000 m2, the Pórtico Building was designed by the architecture studios SOM and Rafael de La-Hoz.

Union Investment’s decision to put this asset on the market comes at a time when there is a distinct shortage of space in the office segment, after the leasing of offices grew by 31% in Madrid in 2017, to 543,000 m2, according to the consultancy Cushman&Wakefield.

Original story: Eje Prime

Translation: Carmel Drake

BNP Paribas: Office Rentals Rose by 22% in Madrid in 2017

5 January 2018  – Eje Prime

The good news is never-ending for the office sector in Spain. In Madrid in 2017, the market recorded its highest level of office rentals since 2007, increase the absorption of this asset type by 22%, thanks to greater demand from public administrations, according to a report from BNP Paribas Real Estate.

According to the entity, last year, 525,000 m2 of office space was leased in Madrid. The office rental figures recorded in Madrid still do not approach the almost 1 million m2 of space that was leased ten years ago. Nevertheless, it is worth taking into account the fact that companies no longer need such large spaces to undertake their activity because working practices have changed, and there is now a trend to optimise spaces.

The increase in demand was also accompanied by an increase in prices, which rose to €31/m2/month in the most exclusive areas. Nevertheless, some lease contracts were also signed for prices of up to €36/m2/month in certain buildings in the Spanish capital’s financial district.

Original story: Eje Prime

Translation: Carmel Drake

Stoneweg Still Has €200M To Invest In Spain

10 November 2017 – El Economista

The Swedish real estate investment platform Stoneweg, founded at the beginning of 2015 by the Spaniards Joaquín Castellví (pictured below, left) and Jaume Sabater (pictured below, right) in Geneva, has an investment plan for Spain amounting to €750 million. “So far, we have spent €550 million and our intention is to continue looking for opportunities in Madrid, Barcelona and along the coast, to spend the remaining balance that we have left of the €200 million”, explains Castellví.

Both partners left the bank Edmond de Rothschild to embark on this new venture, which, in just two years has established a presence in Italy, the USA and Switzerland, as well as in Spain. In the latter, its strategy is based on property development, including both new build and renovation projects, primarily residential, which currently account for 89.5% of its portfolio. In this way, the firm is currently working on the construction of 1,600 homes and “between October and November, we will be delivering the first units”, said the Director. He added that in the case of Madrid, the firm is looking for opportunities in the centre, in neighbourhoods such as Moncloa and Arguelles, “where there is a latent demand for a type of product that has not been built for many years”.

Stoneweg’s latest project in the centre of the Spanish capital is in the former Provincial Court building in Madrid, located on Calle Ferraz, where it is going to build 25 homes. “We have already started to market the homes and in the first week alone we have sold five units”, said the Director, who points out that the prices in other neighbourhoods, such as Salamanca and Chamberí, do not fit with their strategy, since they are looking for average returns of between 15% and 20%.

In its residential business, Stoneweg is also working by means of one-off partnerships with other property developers. Such is the case of its largest operation in Móstoles, where it has purchased a plot land for 300 homes together with ACR.

Also positioned in offices

The firm also holds positions in the office sector. In Barcelona, in fact, it is working on the largest business development in the city, the Luxa complex, comprising two buildings, which have already been pre-leased to Amazon and WeWork. “We sold those two properties to Catalana Occidente and we are now searching for a tenant for the WIP building, also located in 22@, measuring 4,500 m2. Once it has been leased, we will put it up for sale”.

The Director is optimistic because he acknowledges that “clearly, all the noise and uncertainty that we are currently seeing in Cataluña is not having any effect; we continue to have faith in the fundamentals of the city (…)”.

Original story: El Economista (by Alba Brualla)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Värde Will Start Building c.900 New Homes In Q1

11 January 2017 – Cinco Días

The new real estate company Dospuntos, which wants to become one of Spain’s major property developers, will start the year by marketing a significant number of new build properties in a sector that has started to wake up slowly, without any star players. “We are going to start 18 developments containing around 900 homes during the first quarter of the year”, confirmed Javier Eguidazu (pictured above), CEO at Dospuntos, a company controlled by Värde Partners.

These homes will be located in Madrid, Galicia, Andalucía, Castilla y León and Cataluña, primarily in large cities and metropolitan areas. In La Coruña, the real estate company already announced last month that it was beginning its first project there, known as Casa Vega, in the centre of the city. The company will also debut soon in Sevilla, Málaga, Valladolid, Barcelona, Leganés (Madrid) and Oleiros (La Coruña).

“The market has finally woken up. There is pent-up demand because hardly any new homes have been constructed over the last decade. Every property that comes onto the market is sold”, said Eguidazu regarding the recovery in the property development sector.

His company is looking to become one of the largest property developers in the country. After the real estate crisis, almost all of the major players disappeared – went bankrupt – or took time out whilst they waited for better times. Just a handful of companies such as Pryconsa, Vía Célere, local developers, cooperative managers such as Domo and new platforms linked to the banks (Aliseda, Altamira, Solvia…) continued to build at a slow pace. Other listed companies, such as Realia – controlled by the magnate Carlos Slim – and Quabit, are only resuming their business now. Anida, owned by BBVA, also strengthened its business at the hand of Manuel Jove, founder of the now bankrupt company Fadesa.

Dospuntos emerged in June 2016, after Värde purchased the damaged real estate business from the San José Group. It was created to construct around 7,000 homes on land coming from several sources: purchases by the US fund, inherited from San José and even some new acquisitions. “The company has financial muscle. In 2016, we spent €150 million on land”, said Eguidazu.

Along with Neinor Homes, owned by the Texan fund Lone Star, Dospuntos leads this new type of property developer, owned by overseas funds and interested in investing in the real estate recovery in Spain, now that the traditional players have disappeared (…).

The real estate company’s main shareholder is Värde, which holds more than 50% of its share capital. The fund from Minneapolis manages assets amounting to more than €10,000 million all over the world. It has been particularly active in Spain, with the acquisition of Popular’s credit card business, as well as half of that bank’s real estate arm, Aliseda, in an operation for which it teamed up with the fund Kennedy Wilson. Moreover, it has entered the office business of Procisa, the owner of the La Finca business park in Pozuelo de Alcorcón (Madrid).

As a shareholder of Dospuntos, Värde (which means “value” in Swedish) is accompanied by the funds Marathon and Attestor, as well as by banks such as Bank of America and Barclays.

From 2019, the company wants to reach a cruising speed of 2,000 new homes per year on average, according to comments made by Eguidazu at a presentation last June. By then, the company forecasts that it will be generating revenues of between €500 million and €600 million per year.

The shareholders plan to invest €2,000 million between 2016 and 2021, at an average rate of €400 million per year, of which €800 million will be allocated to buying more land on which to build homes. Over the long term, between 30% and 40% of the company’s resources will come from bank financing. (…).

Original story: Cinco Días (by Alfonso Simón Ruiz)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Axiare Buys Cuatrecasas’ HQ In Madrid For €124M

13 December 2016 – Expansión

After a record third quarter in terms of real estate investment, the Socimis and funds in Spain are facing a frenetic pace of work as we head into the last few weeks of the year.

That is the case of Axiare Patrimonio. Yesterday, the real estate company controlled by Luis López de Herrera Oria closed its largest acquisition so far in 2016. The Socimi has invested €124 million to acquire the headquarters of the law firm Cuatrecasas in Madrid.

The property is a modern office building, which was completely refurbished in 2012. It has a gross leasable area of 15,094 m2 and 201 parking spaces. Constructed in 1982, the building used to house the headquarters of Mutua Madrileña until 2006 when it was sold for €120 million to Reig Capital, the holding company owned by the Andorran Reig family, the former owners of Banca Reig and the tobacco firm Puritos Reig.

The complete refurbishment was performed especially for Cuatrecasas, which, following the change of owner, will not change the terms of its 18-year rental contact, say sources at the law firm.

As a result of this operation, Axiare has increased the value of its asset portfolio to €1,230 million, having invested €275 million this year. 71% of the assets in its portfolio are offices, whilst commercial assets account for 11% and logistics assets for 18%.

“This is our third operation in just three weeks and is further proof that Axiare Patrimonio remains firmly committed to fulfilling its business plan. We are approaching the end of 2016 with a very good outlook”, said Luis López de Herrera Oria, CEO at the Socimi. Prior to this purchase of Cuatrecasas’ offices, Axiare’s most recent operation involved the acquisition of two logistics warehouses for €14 million on 2 December. Moreover, in the office segment, the Socimi bought McKinsey’s headquarters on 23 November for €42 million.

Original story: Expansión (by Rocío Ruiz)

Translation: Carmel Drake